6/26/2012 09:13:00 a.m. -
Reported by
John Bowman

A guide to the first 15 years of Doctor Who in comic-strip form is to be published later this year.

Written by Paul Scoones and published by Telos, The Comic Strip Companion: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who in Comics: 1964 - 1979 will chronicle the format from its origin in TV Comic to just before the ongoing strip was launched as a regular feature in Doctor Who Weekly. During this time, more than 200 stories were published in TV Comic, Countdown, TV Action, TV Century 21, the Doctor Who annuals, and the Dalek books.

First launched in the pages of TV Comic in November 1964, the comic-strip version of Doctor Who is just one year younger than the television series on which it is based. This is its story.

Every strip is covered in depth, including plot details, continuity, points of interest, and analysis. For the first time, details about the creation and development of the adventures are documented, alongside comments from some of the original writers and artists.

Follow the exploits of the Doctor in his first four incarnations alongside John, Gillian, Jamie, Sarah, and Leela as he battles Daleks, Cybermen, Quarks, Kleptons, Trods, Sarracoids, and the Ugrakks!

The A5 book will be approximately 500 pages long, including an eight-page colour section.

Scheduled for publication on Sunday 30th September 2012, it is available to pre-order.

At the moment, it is only being offered in paperback. However, David J Howe, of Telos Publishing, has said that a hardback run may be produced if there is enough demand for it - equating to roughly 100 people interested in buying one - in which case purchasers will be given the opportunity to upgrade pre-orders.

Scoones said that this book was the first of what would most likely be a number of volumes covering the comic-strip history of Doctor Who.